Sea-Green
by WhiteWolf815
Summary: Percy didn't ask to be shrunk. She didn't ask to be stuck in the middle of nowhere either. And she certainly did not ask to fall in love with a certain leafman general. All she wanted was a break. Instead, the gods shrunk her until she was smaller than Thumbelina and abandoned her in the middle of some random American forest. Joy. RoninXFem!Percy
1. The Mysterious Figure

Hello folks! Now I've only got a couple things to say in regards to story background before I let you all go and enjoy this piece that has been rattling around in my head for some time.

First off, this takes place a couple years after the war with the giants and one year after Queen Tara's death. So, hence, Percy, or Persephone in this case, will obviously be older. I'm thinking maybe around twenty-three or twenty-four years of age. Of course, I'm complete garbage when it comes to guessing age so don't quote me on it just yet.

Also, this is not an AU, or Alternate Universe. At least not exactly. You'll just have to read and find out.

And I think that's it. I'll add in more if I see fit in the next chapter.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own PJO or Epic. Sadly. Enjoy!

* * *

 **Prologue**

My name is Persephone Jackson and I am a demigod daughter of Poseidon. Now I know what you're probably thinking: "You're the daughter of a barnacle encrusted god? Pfft, yeah right." And I don't blame you. I was in that same exact position several years ago. But having lived in this world of gods and monsters for years, I've come to accept that it's all real. All those old Greek and Roman legends are true. And the gods of Olympus are still alive to this day because they are immortal.

Of course so all their enemies are alive, as well as the monsters. You see immortal means immortal and as a result monsters never truly die. They just reform in the pit of Tartarus.

Anyways, being a daughter of one of the big three gods, AND born of a broken oath, trouble finds me, A LOT. I've been the subject of a couple major doomsday prophecies, and while we all survived, there were a lot of casualties.

Which brings me to my point. I knew that as long as I lived in the world of gods and monsters, I would always be the subject of some terrible prophecy. So as the two-time savior of Olympus, I asked the gods for a break, to have a chance to live safely and not have to worry about another prophecy getting in the way.

And to my astonishment and immense relief, they granted my request. But little did I know that this was just the beginning of something new.

* * *

 **Chapter 1: The Mysterious Figure**

—Ronin's PoV—

It had been a year since Tara's death and the whole fiasco that followed. Things were pretty much the same from day to day. Ronin was still the General of the Leafmen and tasked with keeping both the new queen of Moonhaven, Marigold, and the borders of the forest safe as well as training new Leafmen and so on. Mandrake may have died but there were still existing colonies of Boggans that threatened the life of the forest.

Which led him to his current situation. A small skirmish had broken out near the border and his patrol happened to be nearby. Now the Boggans were putting up a pretty good fight, and somehow, by pure chance perhaps, the disgusting creatures of decay had managed to separate Ronin from his group. And now he was paying the price. He could hear the cries of his men somewhere off to his left, shouting words he could not hear as he fended off multiple assailants. But as he managed to glance around, he knew that they needed backup. There were just too many.

Finally, he managed to get a glimpse of Finn and a couple of his men. Slashing and hacking through opponents, Ronin fought his way toward his men.

"Ronin! Thought we lost you for a moment there!" Finn called, simultaneously pushing a Boggan back.

"We need to regroup!" he said. "Finn, send someone to get backup!"

"Already did!"

Beside him, another Leafman fell but Ronin couldn't mourn the fallen at the moment.

"It's no use! Backup won't get here in time!" someone called.

"Stand firm! If we die, then we die protecting the life of the forest!"

The fight continued on, both sides taking casualties. Then, just when all hope seemed lost, multiple arrows came out of nowhere and struck a couple Boggans dead. Looking around, Ronin saw a cloaked figure standing above them, a bow raised with an arrow notched. An arrow, he belatedly realized, that was pointing straight at him. Before Ronin could move though, the arrow was loosed and...hit the Boggan right behind him that he hadn't even seen coming.

He didn't have time to observe anything else though because a couple more of the monsters demanded his attention.

After that, Ronin lost sight of the figure. He occasionally caught flashes them among the fighting as well as flashes of something the color of bronze but would eventually lose sight of them a matter of seconds later. Whoever this mysterious person was, they certainly became their saving grace. Within a couple moments it seemed, the Boggan attack force seemed to have lost quite a few of their numbers. And that was not all. In that same span of time, the Boggan forces seemed to realize that it was the cloaked figure was the one causing the most damage, so instead of continuing to lay his Leafmen low, the Boggans all started clamoring for the figure, making it easier to slay them.

In no time flat it seemed, the tables had turned and they were driving the Boggans away.

Once the last Boggan was defeated, Ronin carefully scanned the surrounding area, looking for more Boggans in the off chance they had missed some. But instead of seeing filthy creatures of rot getting ready to pounce, he saw the last of a dark cloak disappear behind a tree root.

Sharing a look with Finn, Ronin raced after the cloaked figure while the other man took charge of the other Leafmen.

* * *

—Unknown PoV—

I was running, running through the forest again. Black arrows with blue-green fletching's rattled in the quiver on my back, and the sheathed sword clinked a little at my waist. I could hear the persistent Leafman behind me as he pursued. Why couldn't they just be thankful that I saved their asses and not chase me? Whatever. I did not stop to ask.

As I ran, I couldn't help but admire the guy's determination. Not to mention that out of all the Leafmen who had tried to pursue me, he was certainly giving me a run for my money. Almost literally. Most Leafmen I lost in a couple strides, but this one was relentless, managing to keep up and start gaining on me despite the fact that I was smaller and faster.

But that wouldn't be for much longer.

I could feel it, there was a water source nearby. If I could just reach it...

A hand seized my shoulder from behind.

Whirling around, I was met with the brief sight of blue eyes, silver hair, and fair skin. But that was it.

I did not think. I did not even hesitate. I just reeled back my fist and stuck the guy right in the face.

I think it was more out of shock than the force of the hit that caused the guy to release me. Of course, I did not stick around to see if he was alright.

Now running like a bat fresh out of hell, I followed the sound of the flowing river to its source. Not even caring about how fast the river was flowing or how cold it probably was, I dove right on in.

* * *

 **A/N:** How was the first chapter you guys? Good? Bad?

Please feed the monster and review!


	2. Frustration

**Disclaimer:** I do not own PJO or Epic. If I did though, there would have been a sequel for Epic.

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Frustration**

—Ronin's PoV—

"…and I pursued the vigilante but they managed to escape, your majesty," Ronin finished his report to the Queen.

The young Queen seemed to be mulling over his news. Finally, she said as formally as possible, "Thank you for telling me this General Ronin. While the situation with the Boggans is most disturbing, the news of this mysterious figure is quite intriguing. Are you sure you could not make out any significant details about them?"

"Aside from good bowman skills and a bronze sword, they had green eyes, majesty," he informed her, striking green eyes flashing before his eyes hauntingly.

The Queen seemed genuinely curious now. "Very well. Thank you for this information, General. If there is any more, please let me know."

"Yes your majesty," he said, bowing again before exiting the throne room.

 _I almost had them_ , Ronin internally berated himself. _If I just hadn't faltered..._

"Uh-oh, I know that look," said a familiar voice, somewhere on his left.

Ronin looked around to find Nod leaning casually against a rock, watching him with a playful smile.

"So happened to make you hate yourself so much?" the rookie leafman poked.

"Never you mind," Ronin retorted, not looking at him.

"Well someone's grumpy," Nod commented.

"Is there any particular reason that you're here and not with your group?" Ronin said, finally facing the teenager, brow raised.

Thankfully, Nod accepted the change of topic. "Ronin! I'm off the clock. Relax a bit, would you?"

Ronin rolled his eyes but did not respond.

"Anyways, MK and I were wondering if you would want to go to Nim's with us later?"

Awhile after he, Nod and the shrunken Stomper named MK had saved the forest, MK and her father, Bomba, had decided to move out of their home to be shrunk permanently and live among the Leafmen and jinn. Also in that timeframe, MK and Nod had officially started dating, too.

Focusing back on the topic at hand, Ronin shook his head and said, "Thanks for the offer but no thanks. Unlike you, I have a lot more responsibilities I have to take care of that I can't shirk off without a thought." Okay so that wasn't exactly the whole truth but not exactly a lie either. He did have stuff to do (other than brood on the vigilante), though they could probably be taken care of in a heartbeat.

Apparently, Nod had also recognized that too. "Look Ronin, it's been a year since her death. You need to stop mourning and get out there again. Don't you think that the Queen would have wanted that?"

As soon as he said that, Nod stopped, instantly looking like he had regretted those words even leaving his mouth, but it was too late. Ronin's grip tightened around the hilt of the sword at his waist, his knuckles turning white. He could feel his face tightening in a scowl as his frosty blue gaze bore into the rookie leafman before him.

"I-I'm sorry Ronin! I didn't mean— I just meant—"

"No thank you," he said coldly. "Now get back with your group until your shift is over."

Without another word, Ronin walked away, scowling so as to hide his inner emotional turmoil.

He knew that he probably shouldn't have snapped at Nod, but even after a year, the pain of Tara's passing still brought him fresh heartache. Even after all this time, Ronin still blamed himself for the Queens passing. She had been in _his_ charge, in _his_ responsibility, and she still had died.

Shaking his head in an attempt to clear it of morbid thoughts, Ronin mounted his hummingbird and took off. He had tasks to do and little time to get distracted.

* * *

—Unknown PoV—

By the time I got home, it was nighttime, and I was exhausted. Today had been a long day not to mention eventful.

Passing my full-length mirror as I walked past, I got a good look at myself. My small figure was covered by a long dark cloak that hid everything except my luminous green eyes. Pulling the hood back, I saw a tanned, fit young woman with long dark hair that cascaded down her back, long lashes that framed sea-green eyes and features that befit a Roman or Greek goddess; I saw the face of Persephone Jackson, the demigod daughter of Poseidon.

Shaking my head, I quickly moved away, heading to my room, placing my sword and bow in a safe nook along the way. (Did I mention that I had gotten a lot better with a bow thanks to a lot of practice with Boggans?)

Soon enough, I lay in my King-sized bed, looking up at my painted ceiling that depicted all the stars and constellations.

I had been living in this forest for a little less than a year now. Apparently when I asked the gods to give me a break from all the wars and monsters, they decided that shrinking me until I was two inches tall and sticking me some forest with Boggans and all sorts of other nasties who wanted to kill me was a break.

Real funny guys. _Not_.

Now, I've learned to just live with it. Being tiny wasn't actually that bad. Sure I missed all my friends and family a lot, and they all probably thought I was dead. But the monster attacks were less frequent and I could decide if wanted to fight or not, and not worry about being some divine forces' pawn.

Sighing, I mentally replayed today's events as I got ready for bed.

I had almost been caught by that one Leafman. Maybe I was getting sloppy? Or maybe he was just different? During the fight, I had briefly taken into account that the blue-eyed Leafman seemed different than the rest. I just could not put my finger why he did so.

Aside from that, there was the concerning matter of the Boggans. Their attacks had been getting more frequent as of late, and I wanted to know why. I had encountered the Boggans barely into the first week of my new life here in the forest and I realized that they were this worlds version of monsters except, they kept a sort of balance with the Leafmen. Things would die and start to rot and then that would give way to new life and the cycle went on. But of course, they just seemed to want to cause destruction and disrupt the natural balance of the world. Anyways, from what I had overheard from a conversation between two Leafmen, the Boggans used to have a leader named Mandrake but he had died after a failed assault on the Leafmen's stronghold, Moonhaven, when he tried to take or destroy some kind of special pod.

So did the Boggans acquire a new leader? It was possible. But like with the monster-kind I was used to, they were always fighting amongst themselves, making it difficult to find leadership. Not to mention that Boggans weren't too bright from what I had seen.

Shifting in my bed and ruffling the blue-black covers, my thoughts whirled through endless possibilities, but couldn't remedy as to why the Boggans were so aggressive lately. But tomorrow I planned to find out. I would get my answers.

Closing my eyes, I soon fell into a semi-restful slumber, images of piercingly sharp blue-eyes haunting my dreams.

* * *

 **A/N:** So we finally discover who the mysterious figure is! Yay! And now Percy is gonna pull one of her famous Seaweed brained stunts. But that's not until the next chapter.

Anyways, for those of you who have never read my other works, you should know that I am implementing a 2-Review Policy. "What's that?" you ask. Simple, unless I get 2 reviews, the next chapter will not be guaranteed. Yep, that's right. I will not post another chapter until I get two reviews. Luckily for you guys though, this time I do have another chapter ready to post. All I need are **TWO** little snacks to feed the monster. So please REVIEW.


	3. Need a Lift?

Hey guys! How are you? Well I'll just be brief and say thank you to all who Favorited, Followed, and best of all, Reviewed. You guys rock!

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Epic or PJO/HoO.

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Need a Lift?**

—Ronin's PoV, Night—

When he came too, Ronin knew he was in trouble. If it wasn't the unfortunately familiar ceiling of the dungeons of Wrathwood that gave it away, it was the sticky spider webs that held him in place, arms splayed out, and covered from his waist down, preventing him from doing something as simple as scratching his nose. He couldn't forget the smell either. He hadn't really been joking about the stench of death when he told Mandrake that last year. It was horrifying and brought back so many bad memories, especially the one involving how he had become the caretaker for young Nod.

So logically, the leader of the Leafmen did his damndest and started struggling like there was no tomorrow—which was more than likely in this scenario—and trying to get free from the webs, but it was no use. He was firmly caught in the web like another fly waiting to be devoured.

Panting with slight sweat glistening on his brow, Ronin thought back to how he had ended up in this problematic situation. Like any other day in the forest, he and his group had been on patrol, flying through the forest, monitoring for signs of Boggans. It would not have done for the creatures of rot to sneak in and kill the young queen. However, when they saw a small group of Boggans on the border, making their way towards Moonhaven in plain sight, they should have known that something was up. Even those disgusting creatures weren't so stupid as to carelessly reveal themselves; they were always had some sneaky, underhanded trick planned. In any case, as soon as they had dived in, they had been ambushed; revolting greyish monstrosities closing in on them from every side, preventing escape. Long and hard, he and his men had fought, laying low man of those who opposed them. Still, he had not expected the stupid creatures of rot to somehow separate him from his group yet again. Only, there was no hooded stranger to help him this time, and one had managed to get lucky and get the drop on him, knocking him into oblivion from behind.

Still, it was a bit of a surprise to wake up bruised and bleeding, but still very much alive, in the dungeons of Wrathwood. Why he was still alive was a complete mystery to him, though he had a couple good ideas. In any matter, Ronin hoped the other Leafmen had made it out alive. With any luck, the runner he had sent would've brought backup in time to help his men.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over him, drawing him out of his thoughts, and he looked up to see the face of a grotesque Boggan grinning down at him.

Looking up at the filthy creature of rot, a cold shiver went down his spine like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over his head.

This not going to end well for him.

* * *

—Percy's PoV, Night—

Deplorable, disgusting, and dank. Those were the nicest and most accurate words the demigod daughter of Poseidon could think of to describe Wrathwood. The entire Boggans territory was one huge stinking mass of dead forested area.

 _If I ever get big again_ , she thought, _I'm gonna come back here with an entire platoon of bug spraying Demeter kids and satyr's_.

Her face felt like it was permanently twisted in a sneer of disgust since her stolen Boggan armor smelled like death, but that may have been because the previous owner had died while wearing it. Pity she couldn't clean it, but Percy didn't think going into a Boggan stronghold smelling like flowers would go over well.

Looking up, she saw that the full moon had risen high in the night sky; her only solace right now.

All around her, Boggans milled about, not even sparing her a second glance, and making her glad that she had been able to cover herself in a thin layer of Mist to disguise herself. (Thank you lessons with Hazel and Piper).

Anyways, Wrathwood wasn't much better on the inside. The entire place smelled like rot and death. Actually, it looked like rot and death, with the drab color scheme, general bad smell, and inability to have nice, smooth paths since everything was rocky and uneven. Somewhere nearby, she could hear the screech of bats accompanied by the crude, garbled language of the Boggans. Wrinkling her nose behind the bird skull she was wearing, Percy was irrevocably reminded of those times with Andrew in Tartarus: a world so twisted and perverted compared to what she knew.

Mentally shaking her head, Percy focused on other things such as wandering through the dead tree that the Boggans called a fortress, hoping to hear or see something of value. However, she found nothing. That is until she neared the lowest level.

Despite the twisted, helter-skelter pattern, of the place that twisted voices and other echoes beyond recognition, she could hear someone screaming, crying out in pain. But it wasn't the voice of a Boggan getting into a spat with another. No, this was different. It was more human-like, almost like...like they were torturing a Leafman.

Dear Gods of Olympus.

Percy had to fight to contain a gasp as her stomach roiled at the thought.

But _how_? But _why_?

As far as she knew, Boggans almost _never_ kept prisoners. So why...?

Another agonized scream broke through her thoughts, jolting her back to reality.

Damn her hero complex! She need to save that poor soul. But how?

Suddenly, an idea hit her. A stupid but completely possible boneheaded idea. Luckily though, if she had cared about what other people thought of her plans, she would have called it quits long ago and traded in Riptide for a whole bunch of books to become a scholar.

Without another thought or consideration on how this might go horribly wrong, Percy rushed down the uneven steps and into the dungeon, sea-green eyes bombarded with a gruesome sight. There, like she had guessed, was a Leafman. He was ensnared in a spiderweb, arms pulled up above his head in an undoubtedly painful manner. He was sweating slightly, breathing sounding ragged even from where Percy stood at the door, and he was covered in various injuries ranging from mildly annoying to seriously concerning. Standing over him, one of those mosquito-looking Boggans was stabbing at a bloodied Leafman with its spear as one of its larger companions guffawing stupidly behind it. From what she could tell, the cuts weren't enough to make the poor, helplessly tied up Leafman bleed out or in any way affect him seriously, but the incisions were enough to cause a lot of pain. Altogether, the sight was absolutely disgusting.

Without a second thought, Percy burst into the room, trying to appear a bit panicked and out of breath.

"A big group of Leafmen have been spotted nearby! They want you out there now!" she said, her feminine voice now sounding rough and garbled and more masculine. Did Boggans even have genders or much less, females?

The two grey-skinned stopped laughing and turned their beady yellow eyes on her.

"What about the leaf-scum prisoner?" the mosquito Boggan asked in its squeaky voice.

"I will watch him," she replied with a snarl.

"There's supposed to be two guards," argued the second Boggan. She was surprised he could even talk since he appeared to be rather dimwitted. But then again, it was always a bit of a surprise when a Boggan could do something other than swing a club, destroy, or speak cave-man style considering their general intelligence level.

In any case, this was not going in her favor. Deciding to go out on a limb, Percy snarled, "You dare question _my_ authority? You question _our leader's_ word?"

Apparently those were the right words to say because both of them seemed to stiffen and pale slightly in color. Or technically pale as much as they could considering their already natural sickly-greyish pallor.

"You are to report up there _**now**_ otherwise I'm sure our leader will be very interested to hear how you refused a direct order. Shall I go tell them the story?"

Now they were almost trembling in fear, shaking their heads frantically.

" _ **THEN GET A MOVE ON!**_ " she bellowed so loudly that they jumped a couple feet in the air and bolted out the door so fast, you would of thought that they had the Furies themselves on their tail.

As soon as they were well out of sight and hearing range, the daughter of the sea god couldn't help but snicker a little. "Stupid Boggans."

A weak cough from a couple meters in front of her drew her attention back to reality and the thoroughly beat up Leafman in front of her. Bruised and battered as he was, the guy managed to give her a pretty good sneer, snarling out, "Come to finish me at last? I can go all night you know."

Well at least he still had the strength to retain some ferocity; that was a good sign.

"Brave words but that's really unnecessary," Percy said as she cautiously stepped forward, taking in his features and wounds.

Either he didn't understand her garbled Boggan speech or he just didn't care, but the brave Leafman began to weakly struggle in his spider web bindings.

"Don't do that," she said, coming closer still. "You're just gonna hurt yourself more."

Percy stopped in her tracks when he just shot her a contemptuous glare. However, it wasn't the look he shot her that stopped her in her tracks. It was his eyes. From a distance, she might not have recognized him. But now that she was close enough to look him fully in the eyes, Percy realized that he was the Leafman from the other day that had almost caught her. Sharp blue eyes, short silver hair, and broad features; yep, there was no doubt about it.

Glancing back at the entrance to the dungeon, the demigod predicted that they only had a couple minutes at most before the guards came back. She needed to get him out of here now before they were caught.

Trying again to get close enough to the feral Leafman to cut him free, Persephone raised her hands in a calming 'I come in peace' gesture.

This time he faltered, his blue eyes showing how confused he was. Skeptical eyes never once leaving her frame, he let her approach though he still regarded her with learned suspicion. Finally, she stood barely a foot away from him, looking up into those frosty blue-eyes. Somewhere, in the back of her mind where all the random ADHD thoughts resided, she briefly registered that he was shorter than the other Leafmen she had seen in her ventures though the forest but more broad than they were. Anyhow, reaching down slowly with one hand, Percy went to her belt and pulled out one of her small, Imperial Gold daggers she had been gifted before she had been shrunk. Immediately, the Leafman's eyes widened. But before he could blink, Percy made a downward slashing motion with the knife and the webs fell away.

Injured and beaten as he was, as soon as the bonds fell away and the Leafman's feet hit the floor, his unsteady knees gave way, and he almost collapsed had Percy not been there to catch him. He was kinda heavy, but she managed to keep them both somewhat standing. Gently as possible, she dragged the weakened man over to a wall and leaned his battered frame against it, allowing him to rest for a moment as she cautiously backed away to give the man some space. She needed him to trust her a bit otherwise this entire seaweed-brained plan would fall to pieces faster than her brother Tyson could scarf down an entire buffet of peanut butter sandwiches.

His silvery grey head was bowed, but when he looked up, he was looking at her with a mixture of surprise, confusion, interest and wariness.

She didn't blame him though. After all, it wasn't every day that a Boggan came to your rescue and freed you from captivity. Of course she wasn't really a Boggan so she wasn't sure if that really counted or not; but he didn't know that.

"Why?"

The sudden, unexpected question, made Percy blink.

But before she could answer, she caught the sound of someone coming down the passageway.

 _Hades! I thought we would have at least a little more time_ , she mentally cursed.

Apparently, the Leafman had heard it too because he tried—and failed—to stand, his weak limbs refusing to cooperate.

Quickly rushing over to him, Percy pushed him back down and put a thick digit to her lips, telling him wordlessly to stay there and stay quiet. Judging by the obstinate look on his features, he looked for all the world like he was about to refuse, but she pushed her dagger into his hand and rushed to the door, just in time to meet the returning guards, leaving him no opportunity to argue. Hopefully, this next little stint would work.

Meeting the guards, she didn't give them time to say anything. "The prisoner is escaping you worthless scum! Get him! He was heading down the left passageway toward the border! Get him!"

They all started running in that direction, alerting other guards along the way before Percy started falling behind and eventually managed to give them the slip. Hopefully, this would buy them a little more time.

Returning to the dungeons as quickly as possible, she found the Leafman leaning heavily against the wall as he attempted to stand. However, the demigod in disguise could see his limbs visibly shaking with the strain. If he didn't stop right now, he would…Too late. Percy could only watch as blue eyed rolled up into his skull, whites showing, before the fool collapsed to the floor, face first and undoubtedly unconscious.

Percy huffed irritably, stomping over. _Great, now I have to find a way to get us both out of here alive_ , she thought as she hoisted the limp body over her shoulders fireman style. Glancing at his face, she mentally told the unconscious man that he had better be grateful for what she was doing for him as she began her trek through the Boggan stronghold, hauling the limp Leafman with her.

Little did she know that this simple act would set the tables for a whole new adventure for both of them. Time would only tell though if they would both make it through or not.

* * *

 **A/N:** Well I hope you guys liked that. I'm sorry if it seems a little drab, but I've got like fifteen million things to do and my mind is not as spacious as it once was it seems. Still you may be pleased to know that I do have the next chapter in the works. It is not completed though I have started it. So please review, favorite and follow, and generally motivate me to get off my butt since I could really use it. Remember the **2-Review Policy** is in effect. If you don't know what that is, check the bottom of chapter 2 and then you will understand. I may not be able to get it out anytime soon since I'm graduating this Wednesday and still have a ridiculous amount of things to do before then but I'll try to do what I can.

So please review, favorite, and follow! And have a good day!


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